News and notes from around the interweb:
- United wants to be a premium airline. Most passengers fly economy. Premium needs to extend to the back of the plane. I will say, though, that hot dogs out of certain Asian destinations are surprisingly on point.
A literal hot dog in the pork rice I was served on a United Airlines flight.
byu/pengweather inshittyfoodporn - 15% off Kenya Airways tickets purchase by February 28 for travel through November 30, but USA to Africa blacked out May 15 – August 10, and Africa – US blacked out June 11 – September 30.
- South Carolina coach and huge Eagles fan Dawn Staley blocked from attending Super Bowl by FAA airspace restrictions (“Donald Trump rule”) Tight window to get from a South Carolina game to the Super Bowl, Trump will be there, and airspace will be blocked when Staley would need to fly.
- Speaking of the game:
Of course we were going to sing the @Eagles song on @SouthwestAir en route to NOLA!!!! I’ll NEVER forget this moment GO BIRDS!!! pic.twitter.com/7LDBYODEKo
— Kyra Knox (@KyraKnox_) February 7, 2025
Gettin there … soon enough #NewOrleans @SouthwestAir @NFL @Eagles @SpikeEskin @JackFritzWIP @SportsRadioWIP @JoeDeCamara @EliotShorrParks @JamesSeltzer #Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/vk8Q0V2I4b
— Jeff Lipschutz (@lipschutz_jeff) February 7, 2025
- Man charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl on an Alaska Airlines flight has a bail condition that he must inform flight attendants of the charges against him if he flies prior to trial.
- This woman commutes to work in Kuala Lumpur every day by plane – from Penang. She works for Air Asia. (HT: One Mile at a Time)
- Emirates Skywards points can now be transferred back and forth with Accor’s ALL Live Limitless program.
Not a good deal in either direction! 4,000 Emirates points yield 1,000 ALL points (US$20.66, or half a cent in value per Emirates point). 4,000 ALL points (US$82.64) yield 2,000 Emirates miles (paying over 4 cents per Emirates mile).
Hot dog with rice and bok choy is a combo I would have never have thought of…
Interesting timing for Kenya Airlines promotion given the incident the other day
Unrelated to anything but since this is a roundup: JetBlue sponsored a Rainbolt Geoguesser tournament today with the winner got $7500 worth of travel certificates (flights, hotels) to any JetBlue destination. Pretty cool! Don’t see too many airline sponsorships for things like this.
I find the requirement for the sexual predator to be reasonable. If the guy doesn’t like it he can drive. It’s also much better for the flight crew to know in advance.
I think that a better condition on the predator would be that he cannot fly until he is chemically castrated and can provide proof thereof. I’d also like to see his arms and legs shackled. 1 FA per 50 pax doesn’t allow for enough supervision of predators in addition to their regular duties.
And yes, if doesn’t like it, he can drive
The accused pedophile should be restricted only to fly in the middle seat between two very large and angry adult males. Give him a taste of his likely future.
The logistics of getting from Austin to New Orleans on such a tight schedule were not good even without the restricted airspace. Possibly a private airplane could get close with a drive to the stadium. Traffic on the road could upset such a plan.
United is by no means a “premium airline”. America has no premium airlines.
@Adam — This guy gets it.
The order is: Qatar. Singapore. ANA. JAL. Emirates. Korean. EVA. Cathay. Most others. American carriers. LCC. ULCC. Spirit (sorry). Silver (not sorry).
United Airlines fully represents American values that everything is expensive but cheaply made and of shoddy quality, and the food is awful. And nobody cares about others, well represented in the service you get.
Nobody flying to/from Asia would choose a US carrier if they cared about quality or simply having a humanizing experience.
@mary you’re correct. And have suggested a quality beef dog ( stadium quality ) with optional toppings would. surpass the any meal they now serve and at least appeal to some. I think that also would fall into the cheap catering budget. Sad.
@Mary As an American living abroad for the past 10 years, this pretty well perfectly sums up America (and the way much of the world sees it).
Poor baby has to watch the game on TV like the rest of us. Probably 95% of fans can’t afford to attend the game anyway with prices starting at 5 grand. And nobody like the Eagles.
United Airlines represents Wall Street much more than American values. In America, if you are willing to pay for it, you can still get high quality products and services. Most people are not willing to pay that much. If you want to pay for Walmart quality you get Walmart quality goods. If you want to pay for Ikea quality, you get Ikea quality goods. If you want to pay for Amish or Mennonite furniture, you get furniture of fairly high quality.
There’s a reason why it’s called ‘coach’ and not premium. You want premium? Pay for it.
@Mary and @jns: Very well said. I am proud of our country, but “United is premium airline” this must be a joke from Kirby. If you fly with Asian carriers, e.g. EVA, Singapore, Vietnam Airlines.. you’ll never remember United again (unless for domestic trips with no other choices).
US Airlines really don’t put much thought into the coach experience. Some are better than others. The truth is that most coach passengers fly infrequently and choice solely or mainly on price so the incentive isn’t there.
Want a premium experience? Pay the premium price. That’s one of todays problems,, entitlement. I want the full f/c experience ,but i want a discount on my coach fare!
Some people just can’t grasp the cost of flying.
The coach products of AA, UA and DL are virtually indistinguishable from each other. Every few years, one of them tries to slightly improve the product (usually food, because nobody is going to give you more room for free) but then they revert to the mean. This makes financial sense because no rational human would pay materially more for the trivial improvements. Passengers are properly focused on schedule and price, with more frequent travellers also paying attention to their loyalty programs. FWIW, I think these 3 airlines do a generally good job of getting you where you need to go at a reasonable price, with reasonable booking rules, as long as you’re willing to endure a somewhat cramped experience.
@Mary — This gal gets it.
@Boraxo — You’re a ‘nobody.’ Go Eagles!
@jns — I’ve said this before: Passengers are no longer the ‘priority’ customers anymore. Shareholders are. And as paying passenger, I understand but also loathe that this is the reality. One time on a Delta flight, I recall the pilot announced a ‘thank-you’ over the intercom to all passengers, SkyMiles members, Medallions, and “shareholders,” which made me double-take, and also think, ok, in what order?
@George N Romey — Yup. Gotta buy and fly up-front if you want anything nice these days, even then, it’s no guarantee.
@Douglas — The ‘sweet spot’ is to find the points deal or the confirmed upgrade to save big and still get the seat upfront. I’m sure several of us here have pulled off small miracles taking an RUC or GUC to DeltaOne, or somehow using those otherwise worthless PlusPoints to Polaris long-haul, or system-wide upgrades on AA, or even ‘Move to Mint’ on B6. That’s the name of the game.
@Chopsticks — It’s ironic that we all do care about airlines keeping reasonably keeping their schedules, yet whenever any talk of passenger rights regulations comes up (think EU261, Canada’s APPR), the corporate shills magically appear to deny us any hope of compensation when a significant delay or cancellation causes us financial harms. Folks, we can do better. I know Congress isn’t gonna help us anytime soon, but man, legislate this fix already. Pay us a couple hundred bucks when you can’t properly maintain or staff your flights. Sheesh!
actually flew United from Singapore because the family member I was traveling with needed to end up in Des Moines, which you can’t do on a single ticket on Singapore. I was expecting the worse but actually not bad, so maybe the push at United be be not lousy in having an impact.
Lots of people forget the constitution these days. Remember, it’s innocent proven guilty. But given the current climate, I can understand
That looks like a classic Taiwanese bento box – Taiwanese sausage, bok choy, and braised pork rice! The presentation is awful though